Recently, more counties have restricted online access to the real
estate documents they maintain. The decision to block images from
remote access sparked controversy in the title insurance
community. Not surprisingly, the protective measures were prompted
by complaints from local citizens who realized that their
sensitive information was available on the Internet as a result of
the counties’ online Public Records initiatives. County officials
struggle to balance the need for open Public Records with the
privacy concerns of their constituents. Source of Title
spoke with county officials, constituents, and title professionals
to learn more about the changes and plans for the future.

Just this week, IowaLandRecords.org shut down access to images
on its site after receiving complaints from Governor Chet
Culver. The governor contacted the site after he learned that
sensitive information belonging to him and other state lawmakers
was published online. The indexing information is still available
and can be accessed, according to Phil Dunshee, a project
manager for the site.

Dunshee said that the governing board chose to restrict access
to the images after receiving a fairly emotional response from the
public at large. He indicated that current concerns about the
economy have a lot of people worried that the inclusion of their
sensitive information in online records could expose them to
identity theft.

Since the site blocked access to the images, the public has
been fairly supportive. He admitted that some concerns have been
raised, though, by people upset that the information was ever
placed online.

“A lot of people did not understand prior to this that these
were Public Records,” Dunshee said. “As such, they didn’t know
that Public Records can contain sensitive information that is
available to those interested in viewing it.” He added that the
majority of records imaged since 2002 do not contain Social
Security numbers, due to a state law, but said that records older
than this often contain them.

Prior to blocking access to the images, the site implemented
some security precautions, such as requiring user registration.
But, he noted that during the governing board's recent
investigation, it was determined that an external party had hacked
into the system and changed some of the information contained in
the database. He failed to elaborate on what information was
altered.

Dunshee acknowledged that title companies and mortgage lenders
are not pleased that access to images has been restricted. They
had grown accustomed to accessing the information online and are
now being forced to change how they get the data.

“People are now heading back to the courthouses and away from
the Internet,” Dunshee said.

Jill Kissell, a title examiner who operates A-1
Abstracting and Research in Norwalk, Iowa, said that she has
received more orders from title companies since the images were
removed. One client placed eight orders with her in 48 hours, the
same amount the client ordered during the entire month of August.

“The single biggest thing that I think restricting access will
do for title examiners is require our clients to direct work back
to the local abstractors because the companies they have been
outsourcing work to can no longer access counties' records. This
will invigorate local businesses."

However, she noted that the restrictions will likely drive up
abstractors’ mileage expenses, which they will be forced to factor
into the fees they charge clients. While some county officials may
fax information to abstractors, Kissell doubted that they could
maintain such a policy for an extended period.

Dunshee said once the sensitive information is redacted from
the county records, the site will once again offer the images. He
also said that a subscription service is one of the methods being
examined for future use, but stressed that the 10 million records
maintained on the site will still need to be cleansed prior to
their restoration.

In Arkansas, Pulaski County also recently restricted online
access to its real estate records. Scott Price, the chief
deputy for the county clerk’s office, told Source of Title that
his county intends on restoring access to its online records once
sensitive information is redacted. The county had offered access
to all of its land records dating back to 1999.

Price said the county removed the records at the request of the
state attorney general. The site has been down for approximately
two months, but Price expected it to be back online within the
next several weeks, once its 975,000 records had been cleansed.

“This has been an inconvenience to title companies because they
cannot access the information they need,” Price said. “But, they
realize that it is only a temporary inconvenience and that access
to the records will be restored soon."

He indicated concerns had been raised over the records because
this type of technology is new and some people fear change. He
likened the availability of online records to the fear people
probably felt when automobiles replaced buggies.

“This is a new step for a lot of counties,” Price said. “People
are afraid of it. But, we try to be as transparent and accessible
as possible. All of these records (that were) available online are
available in the courthouse. We just have some roadblocks to work
around and, at this point, we are doing that.”

But, for some people, it isn’t the fear of change; it is the
threat to their privacy that drives their opposition. Bill
Phillips, a flight instructor in North Little Rock, Arkansas,
was one of the people who contacted the Pulaski County Clerk's
Office. He learned that records containing sensitive information
were housed on the site and contacted Pat O’Brien, the
county clerk, and demanded they be removed

“I asked them about this and they said, ‘tough, it’s public
record',” Phillips said.

Not satisfied with that answer, Phillips appeared before the
county quorum court and told them what he had found in the county
clerk’s online records. When they failed to take action, he
contacted the state attorney general's office.

“Many documents remain online with sensitive data,” Phillips
said. “I have also found over 650 expunged records online and
other cases with types of information that should never be
public.” He said these cases include hospital records and child
welfare cases.

Working in concert with B.J. Ostergren, a Virginia-based
privacy rights activist, Phillips decided to dig up some
information on the people working in the county office. He posted
“Public Records” belonging to the clerk office's personnel on his
Website – www.pulaskiwatch.com. He is hoping that by exposing the
county workers to the threat of identity theft, they will realize
the threat to which they are exposing others.

Phillips also contacted county officials in the Colorado and
told them what types of information their records contained.
Specifically, he contacted individuals in both Montrose and
Jefferson County. The clerk for Montrose County, Francise
Tipton-Long, removed some of the documents that contained
sensitive information from her county’s site, but Phillips said
not all of them have been pulled. Source of Title contacted
Tipton-Long’s office, but no one responded prior to publication
date.

Ann Eddins, the county recorder for Delta County,
Colorado, said that many of the records on her county's site
include sensitive information. She said in an interview with The
Delta County Independent, that she sent a letter to the county
clerk’s association seeking guidance on what actions she should
take.

“Our policy has always been to make Public Records available to
the public,” she said. “Even individuals searching Public Records
want to see the whole document and not just a brief reference to
it.” She noted that her office owns software that could redact
sensitive information, but she is afraid to use it without
legislative guidance.

Despite county clerks' assertions that online records be open
to the public, trends seem to indicate that more officials need to
examine what information the records contain prior to their online
publication. With the F.B.I. and other agencies citing the rising
incidence of identity theft, improved control of citizens'
information is a growing concern among Americans.

“The more people who are provided with access to these records,
the higher the threat of wrongdoing becomes,” Kissell added.
“While restricting access may affect companies’ bottom lines, it
also protects more people from identity theft, mortgage fraud and
the fear of unwanted solicitation. This stops criminals from
operating anonymously and taking the images offline puts the
information back in the hands of experienced individuals."

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